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JPAS begins new partnership with north shore venue

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The theater at Covington's Christ Episcopal School will host future productions of the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. Here, an audience awaits the start of "Murder at Cafe Noir," the first JPAS show held in the building.
(Kara Martinez Bachman)

"It's a beautiful space. It's very kind to the actors. The architect really knew what he was doing." -- Dennis Assaf

The Jefferson Performing Arts Society has partnered
with a north shore venue slated to become "home"
for JPAS productions in west St. Tammany. Covington's Christ Episcopal School
theater recently was used for the first time to host a JPAS show. Both the school
and JPAS hope the relationship will be a lasting one that will bring more theater
to north shore audiences.

On Saturday night (Feb. 22), a packed house sat down
to enjoy the comedy "Murder at Café Noir." It was the first JPAS production
held at the school, located south of I-12, a few minutes from downtown
Covington.

"This is our first production (here) and it is very well
attended, as you can see," said Anne Bailey, spouse of JPAS composer in
residence, Glyn Bailey. The Baileys have children that attend the school. Anne Bailey
suggested the school's new theater be used for JPAS shows.

JPAS executive director Dennis Assaf said he wants to make this his north shore home.

"We've been on the north shore for a number of years now,"
Assaf said, "but the locations have been difficult to nail down with any
kind of consistency."

Aside from availability issues, the theater at Christ
Episcopal suited all JPAS production needs.

"We're thrilled about this," Assaf said. "It's a beautiful
space. It's very kind to the actors. The architect really knew what he was
doing. It's well designed for the performing arts."

Christ Episcopal headmaster John Morvant said local architect Randy Aultman designed the building. A modern space with large exposed
ceiling beams and a spacious second-story lobby with viewing windows overlooking
the theater's interior, the building – called the "Center of Inquiry" – was added
to the campus in August 2013.

"This building houses high school classrooms, but we also
built this theater for everyone to use. It's a multipurpose building ... We just
want people to know about how gorgeous this place is," Morvant said. "We're thrilled with the new relationship with JPAS. We're
looking forward to it growing."

What's next on the agenda? The final north shore JPAS
production of the season will be "Perfect Wedding," which will take place on
March 28-30 at Covington's Fuhrmann Auditorium at the Greater Covington Center,
and then again at Slidell's Harbor Center on April 4-6. Going forward, however,
shows in west St. Tammany are likely to take place at Christ Episcopal.

Although the lineup has not been announced, Assaf indicates a
show by Glyn Bailey will be on the schedule for next
season.

"It will feature three singers and a small chamber
orchestra. 'One Great Moment in Time' it's called," Assaf said.

"Now that we're starting from scratch with Mr. Morvant and
the school, we hope to work out our schedules and bring a full series over
here," Assaf said. "But we'll also duplicate it on the other side (east St.
Tammany) as well."

Assaf said bringing the show to two venues on either side of
the parish is important for JPAS.

"I've learned that east and west St. Tammany have the same
mindset as east and west Jefferson," Assaf said. "They have that 'I ain't going
all the way over there' disease."